Lucy van Dalen

Lucy van Dalen has always shown she has a natural talent as a runner. She excelled whilst at Wanganui Collegiate and upon graduating headed to New York with her twin sister, Holly, on an athletic scholarship to Stony Brook University. Being away from New Zealand meant that many of her accomplishments went unnoticed by many outside the sport but over the past four years she has been extremely successful and her talent has blossomed. During the four years she spent at Stony Brook she graduated with 13 school records.

Her crowning moment came when she won the mile at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Nationals in a time of 4m 39.76s. Later that year she also placed 2nd in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor nationals in a time of 4m15.33s. From that point onwards, Lucy’s Olympic dream started to take shape and become a reality. This year she ran 4m 08.09s slashing 3.5 seconds off her 1500m personal best and falling just outside the IAAF B standard gaining her attention back home. After running such a significant personal best in a tactical race, Lucy knew she could do even better and just 5 weeks later did just that by running 4m 05.76s to place 3rd at the San Diego Summer Nights Track and Field Meet. Vaulting her to 2nd in the New Zealand all time rankings, and in doing so became the first New Zealand female since Toni Hodgkinson (in 2000) to represent New Zealand in the Olympic 1500m.